Worried Woodworm
by Loopstagirl
Summary: First the woodworm. Then the council meeting. Then the recklessness in the forest. It was not a king's place to admit to being worried about his servant. Yet there was something wrong with Merlin, of that Arthur was sure.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners._

_Just a little one-shot for you all. Hope you like it._

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Arthur found he was watching Merlin closely as they returned from their expedition. He would never admit to it, and knew if any of their friends had noticed they wouldn't dare say anything. He was a king now, he could hardly be worrying about his own servant acting like a fool.

But Merlin had been jumpy and on edge for the entire time they were out in the forest, almost as if he had a personal agenda at catching up with Borden. Arthur didn't even know if the two of them had met, but he had never seen Merlin so driven before. The man was usually the one cautioning them to be careful and not take unnecessary risks, almost as if he took Arthur's safety to be on his personal to-do list despite the fact he was just a servant.

Arthur had never seen him like this before.

And he had to wonder if his servant was losing his mind.

First the woodworm and now this? It hadn't exactly been an easy year for Merlin any more than it had Arthur and the king found himself thinking about the Dorocha attack and whether there was a chance it had done more damage than anyone knew. After all, the only other person who had been with Merlin was Lancelot and they had lost him. No one knew how Merlin was the only one to have survived an attack and Arthur had been stubbornly not thinking about it, too secretly relieved to know his friend was alive and well to question things like that.

"Merlin?" Said man was folding down the bed, his hands skittering and nervous like he would do anything to be somewhere else right now. Arthur tried not to feel offended. "Do you have somewhere better to be?"

"No. Of course not, no, why would you say such a thing?" The babble of an answer was enough for Arthur to know his servant was lying. Arthur looked pointedly to where Merlin's hands were still trying to fold down the part of the bed he had already done. Merlin followed his gaze and grinned sheepishly.

"I'm just tired." If he had said that at the beginning, Arthur might have believed him. But as it was, the king just fixed him with his own tired glare, sighed and got to his feet.

"Go home, Merlin."

"But…" His protest nearly sparked off Arthur's temper. It was obvious he didn't want to be here and now he was lying about it as well.

"You're worse than your usual pathetic self tonight, go and get some sleep," he ordered. He knew it was harsh but he needed Merlin to get some rest. The man had always been a little odd, everyone knew that. But Arthur thought he knew the sort of person Merlin was inside. How his servant had been behaving the last week or so, however, meant the king was questioning whether his servant was truly sane in the mind any more.

Merlin looked as if he was going to protest again. But then it was as if he suddenly remembered something and practically ran from the room with a hurried goodnight. Reminding himself again not to take offence, Arthur changed for bed and climbed under the covers. The king was tired and dealing with erratic servants was going to have to be on the agenda for the next day, not right now. Merlin was just going to have to wait.

But as exhausted as Arthur thought he felt, sleep faded from his mind. He found himself thinking about all the odd things Merlin had been doing lately. Checking for woodworm; the embarrassing council meeting; his reckless behaviour out in the forest and now this. Once the thoughts had lodged themselves in his head, Arthur sighed irritably. Sleep was not coming to take him away from his problems tonight and before the moon had fully risen, he found himself lighting a candle and dressing again.

He knew the corridors like the back of his hand and it didn't matter the castle was in darkness, Arthur swiftly made his way to Gaius' chambers. He knocked lightly, aware he had sent Merlin away with the hope of the man taking the hint and going to bed. There was a slight noise behind the door before Gaius pulled it open.

Arthur strode in purposefully.

"Is he asleep?"

"Who?"

"Merlin," Arthur fixed Gaius with a look the physician knew not to cross. It meant Arthur wasn't in the mood for games and wasn't leaving until he had got what he had come for.

"Of course," it didn't escape Arthur's notice, however, that Gaius' eyes flicked to Merlin's door before returning to the king. Arthur ran a hand through his hair, a gesture he had normally grown out of. Why did he get the feeling Gaius was lying to him as well?

"I want you to prescribe him something."

"For what?"

"He's losing it, Gaius. He turned down the bed three times tonight. He's checked for woodworm two mornings in a row and I don't even want to know what he thought he was doing out in the forest; he was reckless."

Arthur pretended not to notice the way Gaius' face instantly softened as he realised his king was worried. Arthur scowled. He wasn't worried; he wanted a servant who could actually work.

"Merlin," Gaius began, gesturing to a stool. Arthur remained standing even as Gaius eased himself onto one, "has had a lot on his mind recently."

"Like?"

"It's hardly my place to say, Sire," there was a hint of reproach in Gaius' voice and Arthur knew the man wouldn't open up, no matter what Arthur pleaded or threatened. "But he just needs a little patience."

"Patience? I dismissed him early with the hope he would get some sleep, isn't that patient enough?"

"It's a start. Just give him time, Arthur, he'll snap out of it."

"He better," Arthur muttered, turning towards the door again. It was clear to him Gaius was avoiding the question and trying to scold Arthur in the process and the king was not in the mood. If the old man was lying about Merlin being asleep, it meant that he was out and about somewhere. Arthur had no desire to be woken by some strange servant because Merlin had overslept after spending all night in the tavern.

Without another word to Gaius, Arthur left.

Stopping by his chambers to pick up his cloak, Arthur ducked his own guards and began heading towards the lower town. He had no idea where it was Merlin went, but he was just going to start in one tavern and keep working his way around until he found his servant. After that, Arthur wasn't quite sure what happened next, but he would think of that once he had Merlin by the ear.

The first two taverns had no idea who Merlin was. The third Arthur only just escaped from once they realised their king was amongst them and a few men wanted to get a little rough with the First Knight of Camelot. Arthur let it go; he had too much on his mind.

Wandering down the street and feeling as if he was making a big mistake, Arthur vowed to try one more then give up. He would send Merlin to muck out the stables as a punishment in the morning, for he knew that was not the place to be with a sore head. But just as the sign came into view, he heard someone calling him name.

Turning – unable to believe his luck – Arthur looked down the street to see Merlin staring at him.

"What are you doing here, Sire?" The man kept his voice down as he closed the distance between them, concern burning in his eyes. Quite suddenly, Arthur just wanted to laugh. Hysterically. He was out here worried about his servant, who was now getting worried about him _because_ Arthur was out here.

"Where have you been?" Arthur ignored Merlin's wince at the accusing note in his voice. He was more interested by the way Merlin's eyes flickered to the east – towards the forest – and he seemed to be fighting to keep a grin off his face. His eyes were dancing though and Arthur knew wherever Merlin had just been, something had happened to cause him great happiness.

"Nowhere. What are you doing out here?" Even Merlin's voice betrayed his happiness.

"Nothing," Arthur said defensively. If Merlin wasn't going to give him some straight answers for once, then there was no way Arthur was going to tell the truth either.

"Right." Both of their denials seemed to have brought the conversation to a close. Merlin glanced around, clearly for some inspiration at how to change the subject.

"Shall we just…" he waved a hand vaguely towards the castle with a sheepish grin. "Go and get some sleep?"

"No," the word took Arthur by surprise as much as they did Merlin. But as soon as he said it, he knew he had made up his mind. He was not going to go exploring Camelot by night looking for his wayward servant and then go back to bed without even a drink. Grabbing Merlin's arm, he propelled him towards the tavern he had just been about to investigate.

"Arthur, what-?"

"I need a drink. And as it has been at least three days since you were last in the tavern, I'm sure you do too."

"I…" Merlin clearly didn't know what to say and Arthur took that as a silent victory; his servant always had an answer for everything. What he didn't want to admit out loud, however, was that he was hoping if he could get a drink inside of the man, Merlin might start being a little more honest about what it was he had been up to or what was on his mind that was affecting his work.

But all Arthur truly managed to do was pour out – luckily in hushed tones – how much it was weighing on him being king while staring forlornly at the bottom of yet another empty tankard and wondering where the ale had gone.

"Come on, Sire," it had to be gone midnight by the time Merlin managed to prise the tankard away from him. "You have training in the morning and you'll blame me if you have to attend with a sore head."

"Good. S'your fault."

"Mine?"

"If you hadn't been so mysterious and sneaky, I wouldn't have come looking for you. Only wanted to drink because I was worried."

Arthur didn't notice Merlin's smile. He barely even noticed the way his servant manhandled him to his feet and began to drag him back towards the castle. All he truly knew was that he needed to tell Merlin just how unfair it was to make his king worry like that and he expected better in the future.

"Of course, Sire. You just lie back there…" Arthur went back obediently only to blink in astonishment when the softness of his bed greeted him. He didn't have time to think anything else, however, for sleep instantly claimed him.

But when Merlin wrenched open the curtains and the sunlight sent stabbing pains through his head, Arthur groaned and rolled over, burying his face in the pillows. Not only because of the pain, but because he had a horrible feeling he had been admitting to concerns no king should voice out loud.

The smile on Merlin's face wasn't helping.

Yet there was no way Arthur was going to admit he couldn't actually remember most of the night before and had no idea what he had said. Normally, he would take that sort of frustration out on his knights. But the idea of hearing swords clang against each other made him groan again and stubbornly pull the covers over his head with the hope Merlin would just go away.

This was why a king should never worry about his servant.


End file.
